Bulbasaur
by Raichu
Summary: Three starter Pokémon are waiting: who will pick them? Bulbasaur's POV.


_This story is based on an entry to the Guess-the-Author competition at The Pokemon Tower Forums with the theme, "Thoughts of a starter Pokémon viewing the three trainers who might pick it." Inspired by Anne McCaffrey's beautiful short story, _The Smallest Dragon Boy_. I hope you like it._

**Bulbasaur**

by Raichu

The little bulbasaur sat and waited. Next to it were a charmander and a squirtle. They all looked edgy. The professor told them not to be nervous, but words are one thing and doing them is another.

"Bulba bulba. Bulbasaur," it said.

"Squirtle," replied the squirtle in a reassuring tone. The charmander remained silent and looked the other way.

_Saur, bulba bulbasaur,_ thought Bulbasaur to itself. It began to pace around impatiently.

"Char!" snarled Charmander.

"Bulbasaur?" answered Bulbasaur meekly.

"Squirtle!" said Squirtle, giving a menacing look at Charmander. Charmander backed off.

"Squirt, squirt," Squirtle reassured Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur nodded. "Bulba," it said, nodding gratefully.

_Saur, bulba bulbasaur,_ it wondered again. It stopped pacing and sighed.

It heard a noise from outside the room. The door opened. Finally the wait was over. Three trainers walked in.

"Saur!" exclaimed Bulbasaur as it saw the first one. It was a boy dressed in plain shorts and T-shirt. He had a sweet face which betrayed some fear and apprehension. _Bulba bulba?_ wondered the Pokémon.

The next child was a girl, dressed in jeans and a belly top. Her ponytails bobbed up and down as she hopped into the room, her mouth open in a wide grin. _Bulbasaur, _ thought bulbasaur with a worried look. _Bulba, bulba._ It shook its green head and drew back a little.

The last child was another boy, tall, wearing torn jeans and a striped T-shirt. He had a nasty smirk on his face. Seeing him, Bulbasaur moved behind Squirtle. _Bulbasaur!_ it thought with a tremble.

The professor came in behind the children. "Look at your starters and get to know them," he said. "You can pat them but be gentle. They're young and not used to humans yet."

Bulbasaur looked from face to face as the budding trainers walked around and examined each of their potential future partners. _Bulba bulba_, it wondered. _Bulbasaur? Bulbasaur? Bulbasaur?_

The tall boy didn't hesitate. It came up to Bulbasaur and shot it a look as if to say who's boss. Bulbasaur stood petrified. He pretended to pat Bulbasaur, but it felt like a slap.

The tall boy then approached Squirtle. He nudged it with his foot. Squirtle stepped back as if the boy's foot was filthy. The boy's smirked turned into a sneer, but he remained silent.

Meanwhile, the girl thrust out her hand and patted Bulbasaur. "Hi!" she said, shaking its head with her exuberance. Bulbasaur felt its brain rock inside its cranium. It cringed but managed to remain silent.

Bulbasaur looked around for the first boy he had seen. He was still standing at the doorway. At the professor's behest, he moved forward. He saw Charmander alone and walked over. Gingerly, he reached out his trembling hand towards its head. Charmander opened its mouth and spat smoke. The boy yelled and withdrew his hand.

"Bulba!" cried Bulbasaur in fear.

"Squirt!" warned Squirtle. Charmander backed off again.

Suddenly Bulbasaur found itself off the floor. The girl had picked it up—jerked it up more like it. Instinctively, its vines flew out and wrapped themselves around the girl's arms. She panicked. Bulbasaur found itself falling and hitting the floor with a thud. It recalled its vines and ran to the corner of the room.

The tall boy noticed the other boy shy away from Charmander. He walked up to the fire Pokémon and looked down with a look that sent chills through Bulbasaur's spine. Charmander seemed to respond in a way that Bulbasaur couldn't understand. It wagged its tail and hopped over.

"Char...!" it growled harshly.

The tall boy smiled an evil grin and Charmander echoed the expression. It looked like it had found itself a partner. _Saur bulbasaur,_ thought Bulbasaur, shaking its head.

In spite of what happened, the girl never lost her enthusiasm. She stepped over to Squirtle and slapped it's shell roughly. Squirtle took it in its stride.

"Squirtle!" it announced to Bulbasaur happily. The girl gave it a powerful hug, but Squirtle's hard shell seemed to be impervious to pain.

That left...

The timid boy was looking even more fearful than before. And so was Bulbasaur. Neither moved. Finally, Charmander left with its new trainer, sending a haughty look in Bulbasaur's direction as it stepped out the door. Squirtle left with the girl, who was sporting a grin that was wider than seemed humanly possible. Bulbasaur and the boy were left together.

_Bulba bulba,_ thought Bulbasaur apprehensively.

"Go on," urged the professor, "Give it another go."

Bulbasaur kept its gaze low. It heard a slow shuffle. Two feet appeared, inching their way closer. _Bulba,_ it wondered.

_Bulba bulba,_ it thought again. Then something happened. It felt a touch. A soft touch. Instinctively, it raised its head into the boy's touch. The touch turned into a pat, a gentle caress as it felt the boy explore its skin.

_Bulbasaur?_ it wondered. It was at the cross-roads. What should it decide?

It reflected on the boy's caress. There was no pain, there was nothing to make him frightened.

"Bulbasaur!" it announced cheerfully. He saw the boy crouch down to its level. It felt a hug, a warm and tender hug as emotion flooded into its little heart. It rubbed the boys face with its head and gave him a gentle lick on his cheek.

He heard the boy giggle, and it sounded like a sweet melody. The boy stood up. He turned to the professor.

"Thanks professor," said the boy. He pointed to Bulbasaur. "I'll have this one."

They proudly walked out together and never looked back.

_So how did you like it? I haven't done many Pokémon POVs before. I thought I'd do it differently to what you usually read, in third person, without translation into human speech, as a challenge to see if I could make it work._


End file.
